Beet topping device



Oct. 19, 1937. F. L. KING BEET TOPPING DEVICE Filed Oct. 19, 1936 2Sheets-Sheet'l mm ljllllllll 1 lllll V INVENTOR. F L. Kuz 9 BY Q? mm.

ATTORNEY Oct. 19, 1937. KlNG 2,096,588

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE CE Filed Oct. 19, 1956 2 Sheets Sheet 2 INVENTOR. E L.Ku z y BY QM 8 .SLLEISSL.

. ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 19, 1937 .pmTED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to machines for mechanically cutting the tops offsugar beets after they have been dug, and as is necessary before thebeets are delivered to the refinery. In per- 5 forming this operationitis essential that the beets shall be topped at the proper height, sinceif too much of the body of the beet is removed with the crown and leavesa considerable loss is entailed in the aggregate, since the sugarcontent of I the part removed cannot of course be saved. If on the otherhand an insufiicient portion of the crown is removed a part of the beetwhich has no sugar content and hence no value and which adds to the bulkto be treated in the refinery to no useful purpose, is retained; thus ofcourse cutting down the sugar output at the refinery relative-to thetotal quantity of the beets handled.

' The principal object of my invention is to provide an apparatus forthe purpose which, in connection with a pair of rotating topping discs,is arranged with means for movingthe beets into propercutting positionrelative to the discs, and

for holding the beets so positioned that the discs will engage the beetsand remove the tops at the proper height.

I am aware that various attempts have been made to mechanically orautomatically top the beetsafter the'y'have been dug or prior to thedigging of the same. As far as I am aware, however, such attempts havebeen unsuccessful, since none of the contemplated devices are at presentin use and the beets are now topped by hand, which of course is arelatively slow procedure and is apt to be inaccurate and to incurwaste. My apparatus on the other hand is positive in operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of thischaracter which is of such a physical nature that it can be eithermounted directly on any standard beet digger or harvester, or it can bearranged as a self-contained portable unit to be drawn along by theharvester, or as a stationary unit to be mounted in some convenientfixed point.

A further object of the invention is to produce a simple and inexpensivedevice and yet one which will be exceedingly effective for the pur- 50pose for which it is designed.

These objects I accomplish by means of such structure and relativearrangement of parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the followingspecification and claims.

5.5 In the drawings similar characters. of reference l If; indicatecorresponding parts in the :several views: v

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of the apparatus as in operation. I

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the same. :.5

Figure 3 is an enlarged .cross section as on the line 33 of Fig. 1.

Figure 4 is a'fragmentary enlarged plan, partly in section, of amodified form of top engaging rolls.

Referring now more particularlyto the characters of reference. on thedrawings, and particularly at present'to Figs. 1 to 3, the apparatuscomprises a pair-oftransversely spaced rolls l whose axes are parallelto each other. These l5 rolls are turned of wood or metal, 'as foundbest,

and in any event are preferably rough surfaced. The rollsare providedwith end spindles 2 mounted in suitable bearing brackets 3 which aresupported from horizontal'beams 4 which form the supporting frame orapparatus. This frame may be rigidlyiattachedto'a beet harvester (orincorporated therewith during its manufacture). -or it may be made asa-portable-orstation- I ary unit separate from the harvester, as may beg 5 found most suitable or expedient. a The 'rolls are each formed fromend toend with outwardly projecting fiat faced threads '5, the threadsof the two rolls extending in opposed but matching relation to eachother, as shown 30 in Fig. 2. The 'pitch of the threads graduallydecreases from end to end of the-rolls so that the spacing betweenadjacent threads likewise gradually decreases, as plainly'shown. Betweenthe threads the periphery of the rolls is concaved 35 as shown at 6, thedepth of the concavity gradually decreasing With the decrease in thespacing between the threads. The purpose of this arrangement will beseen later. 1

Extending'over the rolls close to theupper pe 4,0 riphery of the same atthe end having the closest thread spacing (which is the discharge end ofthe rolls) is a pair of topping discs 1. These discs are disposed intransversely spaced relation to each other in a common horizontal planeand 5 are arranged so that their adjacent edges are close to each other.Said discs are'mounted-on vertical spindles 8 suitably. supported fromthe adjacent bearing brackets 3. Guide plates or boards 9 extendlengthwise of and above the 2 5,0 rolls and project upwardly indivergingrelation to each other from approximately the. central verticalplane of the rolls, as shown in Fig. 3.

At the intake end of the rolls these plates'are connected by a crossplate In so thata hopperi is 35 formed into which the beets areinitially discharged from the elevator ll of the harvester or othermechanism.

At one end the rolls are connected by gears l2 so that they will turntogether and at the same speed. The necessary rotation is imparted toone of the gears, so that the upper surfaces of the rolls will turntoward each other, from a drive shaft l3. This shaft is preferablydisposed to one side of the rolls and is provided at a suitable point inits. extent with, a pulley M or the like so that it may be driven from apower plant such as a gas engine or the like.

such rotation, any body resting on the rolls is conveyed toward thediscs. The discs also are arranged to be driven so that, their forwardad-' jacent edges turn toward each other, the discs being connectedtogether in such driving relationship by suitable gearing asindicated atIS. The discsare also preferably driven from the shaft 13 by gearingconnections H5, at a speed considerably in excess of the speed of therolls. j

It is to be noted that no particular emphasis has been placed on thedriving connections of the rolls and discs, or on their mounting, sincethese features may obviously be varied considerably as may be found mostexpedient in practice, without departing from the spirit of theinvention which resides in a special form and arrangement of the rollsand their relationship to the discs.

In operation thev beets as they drop off the elevator naturally falllengthwise onto the adjacent end of therolls, on account of the guideplates which serve to deflect them and. also on account of the rotationof the rolls. The diameter of the rolls and the space therebetweenrelative to the diameterofthe beets is such that the beets rest on therolls without any tendency for them tobe pinched between said rolls. Theleaves however, being fiexible and separate elements and relativelythin, tend to drop between the rolls. With the rotation of the rolls inthe direction as previously described not only are the beets advancedtoward the disc, but with such advance the leaves are caught between therotating surfaces and are pulled down. This pulling causes the beetsthemselves to be gradually upended, as indicated in Fig. 1, until by thetime said beets reach the disc they are in a vertical position, with thebody of the beets at their crowns resting on the rolls The discs are atsuch a level relative to the rolls that they will engageand cut throughthe beets at the'proper height. In order to better hold the beets in thedesired position While being cut the concave surfacesof the rollsbetween the threads and'adjacent the discs are provided with a number ofoutwardly projecting blunt studs H, which press into and firmly engagethe leaves or stalks. The cut beets are then discharged from the discsby the rotation of the same into a chute l8 which is provided inconnection with'the guide plates 9 at the corresponding end. The severedtops drop of themselves into a chute l9 disposed between and directlybelow the discs. .The further disposition of the beets and tops is thena matter of choice, which forms no part of my invention.

The opposed concavity of the top receiving surfaces of the rolls,between the threads, is such as to flatly engage the entire mass ofthetop stalks and leaves with an even pressure. The space between theopposed concave surfaces is decreased as the discs are approached sothat tops of. different sizes or cross sectional area 7 thereto.

The direotion of the roll threads is such that with spending sizes wouldbe substituted.

as set forth herein.

within certain limits will be properly engaged and clamped. The pitch ofthe threads is decreased as the discs are approached so that the endmoststalks of relatively large tops of correspondingly large and heavy beetswill be engaged and clamped between the threads themselves, and thus theadditional pull on the stalks sometimes necessar} to completelystraighten or upend such heavy beets will be imparted Though as stated,the above features are designed so that the rolls will operatesuccessfully with beets and. tops of different sizes, it is not intendedthat a. unit of a single size shall be used for all sizes of beets.Rather the range of adaptability of a unit is only such that it may takecare of the different sizes of beets as are .liable to be encountered inany one field. When working in other fields in which the average beetsize is larger or smaller, diflierent rolls of corre- Though I haveshown only a single pair of rolls and disc, the complete apparatus ifnecessary would comprise a number of sets of such units, 'so that thenecessary capacity to take care of the output from a fast diggingharvester would be provided without choking the rolls. 7

In the modification shown in Fig. 4 the rolls comprise hollow bands ofrigid metal arranged in the form of helical coils, the turns of whichare spaced somewhat fromeach other. Said bands at their ends areprovided with rigid heads 2| having, axial spindles 22 whereby the rollsmay be supported and driven. In the interior of each roll between theheads is at rubber .air bag 23 in which air the suitable pressureismaintained. Formed on the back are rubber threads 24, conforming inpitch and width to the pitch and spacing of the turns of the roll-band,and projecting outwardly through said spaces as shown. This arrangementmakes the threads yieldable, so that leaves passing between the threadswill be clamped and held against movement, and the pulling of the beetstoan upright position and Ymaintaining theminsuch position is renderedmore positive. V

From the foregoing description it will be readily seenthat I haveproduced such a device as substantially fulfills the objects of theinvention While this specificationsets forth in detail the presentand'preferred construction of the device, still in practice suchdeviations from such detail may be resorted to as do not form adeparture.

from the spirit of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and useful anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is: p

1. A beet-topping apparatus including a pair of cooperating horizontallyspaced rolls adapted to be rotated so that their upper surfaces turntoward each other, and onto one end of which the beets to be topped aredeposited, a horizontal cutting device mounted above and extendingacross the rolls at the other end, and a thread projecting outwardlyfrom and extending spirally along each roll from end to end; the threadsof the two rolls being disposed in opposed but matching order and thepitch being in such a direction as to cause the beets contacting withthe threads to be advancedtoward the cutting'device with the rotation ofthe rolls; the pitchof the threads being gradually decreased toward thecuttingdevice end of the rolls, whereby the spacing between adjacentturns of the threads is also decreased.

2. A beet-topping apparatus including a pair of cooperating horizontalrolls adapted to be rotated so that their upper surfaces turn towardeach other, and onto one end of which the beets to be topped aredeposited, a horizontal cutting device mounted above and extendingacross the rolls at the other end, and a thread projecting outwardlyfrom and extending spirally along each roll; the threads of the tworolls being disposed in opposed but matching order, and the periphery ofthe rolls being concaved between adjacent turns of the threads with adecreasing depth toward the cutting-device end of the rolls.

FLOYD L. KING.

